Can you help @Chill4usCarers?

I have long been a supporter of the inspiring Wendy Maxwell (pictured) and Chill 4 Us Carers who provide a unique online community for carers which is run by carers all of whom contribute their time on a voluntary basis. The site has a 24-hour forum and chat room where members can post messages or reach out when they feel under pressure, there is an archive with games for members to play at all times of the day or night and issues can be discussed privately, without details being available to view online.

As Wendy says “You can become a carer in an instant and when it happens to you, you can suddenly find yourself in a very difficult situation. You’ve got someone to look after who is ill, you need to find help and yet you’re stuck in your house. That’s when the internet can make all the difference.

“When you are a carer, it can be frightening and you can feel very alone – we are the only peer support group for carers in the UK and it’s vital that people have somewhere they can go to talk to other people: they may not have the chance to speak to anyone else at all, otherwise.”

Chill 4 Us Carers needs your help to survive because it is starved of funding. With hundreds of members across the country Wendy is passionate about bringing the outside world to those stuck inside four walls and has campaigned tirelessly to give computers to those who can’t afford them.

The innovative Computers for Carers scheme provides free laptops which are given to carers and offers a lifeline for those who need them most. Wendy is asking anyone who has a working laptop which they no longer need to donate it to the organisation so they can give it to a carer.

She is also hoping to raise the necessary £5,000 to turn Chill 4 Us into a registered charity which would make future fundraising and grant applications far simpler and is also looking towards a time when she could hand the reins to another member to run the sites. Charity status would mean the organisation could look to a future where a paid member of staff could run the site for a few hours every day, from home.